IN THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE BIBLE SESSON November 24, 2008 Issue

HOW NOT TO BE FOOLED

VIRGINIA STOPFEL

TWICE EACH YEAR, when the Bible Lesson "Ancient and Modern Necromancy, alias Mesmerism and Hypnotism, Denounced" comes up, as it does this week, it reminds me of a day I was called only minutes before Sunday School began to teach a class of six-year-olds. No time to prepare! After the opening exercises, I said to the kids, "Do you know what all those words mean?" Pause. "No-o-o." Another pause. "They mean, 'How not to be fooled.'" Then, "All those humungous words, and thats all it means!"

No one likes to be fooled into thinking something is true or real when it isn't. Learning how not to be fooled is a bit like doing detective work. In this week's Lesson I detected a number of words related to being fooled: snares, deceived, error, beliefs, hypnotism, unreal, illusions, hypocrisy, mock, ignorance, fables, pretensions. But I also found many clues as to how not to be fooled: trust, saved, wise, guide, awake, awakening, unveils, faith, witness, and honest heart.